Paramount Skydance beat Wall Street’s expectations with its first-quarter earnings due to boosts from its streaming and film businesses.
The company reported revenue growth of 2% to US$7.3 billion. This surpassed Wall Street expectations of $7.28 billion.
This was lifted by a 11% increase in revenue year-over-year for its streaming unit to $2.4 billion.
Paramount+ added 700,000 subscribers during the quarter and grew 17% from the same time last year.
The streaming platform has nearly 80 million subscribers, with the most recent quarterly growth coming despite price hikes on Paramount+ plans in January, the platform’s first since August 2024.
The company’s film revenue rose 11% to around $1.28 billion, with the release of ‘Scream 7’ offering a boost to revenue and becoming the highest-grossing film in the horror flick franchise.
Following the merger of Paramount and David Ellison’s Skydance last year, the company said it has nearly doubled its film slate for 2026.
Like its peers, however, Paramount’s TV media business, which includes broadcast network CBS, as well as cable TV channels like Nickelodeon, MTV and BET, was weighed down by the continuation of cord-cutting.
The segment reported $3.67 billion in revenue, down 6% compared to the same quarter last year.
Paramount also reported net earnings of $168 million or 15 cents per share, compared to $152 million or 22 cents per share a year earlier.
When adjusting for one-time, transaction-related items, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of 23 cents, surpassing expectations of 15 cents.
In the second quarter, the business expects revenue of $.675 billion to $6.95 billion.
As for the full year, Paramount expects revenue to grow 4% year-over-year to $30 billion.
This earnings release comes as Paramount is in the midst of closing its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Warner Bros shareholders approved this acquisition in April.
Paramount has agreed to acquire Warner Bros for $31 per share, all cash, and has recently been lining up its debt and equity commitments from outside investors.
Paramount (NASDAQ: PSKY) shares closed 0.36% at $11.13 during U.S. deals on Monday (Tuesday AEST), before adding 1.5% in after-hours deals. Its market cap is $12.37 billion.
